Canada preaches peacekeeping, but is looking to spill arms into a warzone

The Canadian government is considering shipping a supply of weapons to Ukraine.

Last year, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, pictured with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last month, put Ukraine on the Automatic Firearms Country Control List, which allows Canadian manufacturers to sell weaponry to the Ukrainian military. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

OTTAWA—There was a report out last week that the Canadian government is considering shipping a supply of weapons to Ukraine. This particular cache of pistols, machine guns, carbines, and 60-millimetre mortars was originally intended to equip Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq. That plan was hatched while Canadian special forces personnel were acting as trainers and mentors to the Kurdish militia in the allied effort to fight Daesh (also known as ISIL, ISIS, and Islamic State) in Iraq.

Democracy, Terrorism and Killer Robots: Embassy News covers the 2015 Halifax International Security ForumThe Halifax International Security Forum is one of the world’s biggest gatherings of defence and security leaders.

Unless Trudeau plans to be out on these streets, fighting against police brutality or in cabinet drafting legislation to curb police powers, his, and all the other white voices of his ilk, have no merit here.

'I do agree that things need to be implemented as quickly as possible. We could've done this a lot sooner. The good news is that we’re doing it now and announcing it today,' says Transport Minister Marc Garneau.